Pylon - Chomp [Multicolored splashes]

Chomp catches Pylon taking apart and reassembling their own songs with more intelligence, a 1983 record now available again on splashy multi-colored vinyl.

They started out as art students at the University of Georgia with big ideas and no real intention of forming a band, which in some ways made them one of the most impactful to emerge from Athens alongside the B-52's and R.E.M., all happening within the same few blocks at the turn of the decade. Gyrate had already heralded them as something truly strange and rhythmic in 1980, and this sequel shows self-proclaimed non-musicians transforming, almost against their will, into real musicians. New West has remastered both albums from the original tapes for this reissue.

Crazy is the song that outlasted everything around it, angular and hypnotic enough for R.E.M. to cover it themselves. Beep rides Randy Bewley's guitar in tight, edgy circles while Vanessa Briscoe Hay's vocals cut at odd angles, M-Train freezes in a groove and refuses to resolve it cleanly, and No Clocks earns its title with a rhythm that seems to float free from any fixed tempo.

Art school theory morphed into some of the most physical post-punk of its era. Chomp is where this transformation was completed.

Track listing

1. K
2. Yo-yo
3. Beep
4. Italian Movie Theme
5. Crazy
6. M-Train
7. Buzz
8. No Clocks
9. Reptiles
10. spider
11. Gyrate
12. Altitude